Monday, October 23, 2006

...on her travels, duchess had witnessed some of nature's amazing phenomena. In the north, she had seen the neon phosphorescent lights of aroura borealis, swirling, twirling and unfurling waves of light like banners across the sky. Eastwards, she had seen beautifully delicate nebulæ, with centres of cool green, encircled by glowing warm red, colours marking the birth of a new star. To the west, she had seen the fiery red-hot sun transformed into a burning ball of black, during an eclipse - while a full moon appeared as a huge golden ball hanging in a purple sky. She had seen whirling galaxies - saturn suspended in a circular cradle of gases - the seven sister stars of the plieades twinkling blue in the depths of the dark. South, she had seen the african blue-black night skies, streaked with shooting stars and meteor showers, the black trees silhouetted against this dramatic backdrop...